The Art of Arthur Watts

The Rig
This type of rig is known locally as a lug and mizzen. The unstayed main mast was stepped up in the bow and the mizzen at the other end of the boat, the transom (making the boat technically a ketch). This arrangement has the great advantage of providing a clear working area. The loose-footed (actually boomless) mainsail can be brailed up around the mast as shown in the photo rather than being dropped and cluttering up the boat. The mizzen was often left up since it was not in the way and kept the boat's head up into the wind.

Although my father was a heavy man, Summer Haze carried so much sail that he routinely stowed two half-hundredweight pigs of iron ballast either side of the centerboard case. He would also tip the boat to an extreme angle so as to get under the iron railway bridge at Sea Mills, when the tide was high, without needing to drop the gaff. Years later I came across several entries in the local boatbuilder's accounts which tell their own story. "Commander Watts--new gaff". "Ditto, new mast".

Such a large mainsail, 95 square feet, puts a terrific strain on the bow section. Although the boat twists quite noticeably when hit by a gust, flexible strength is a characteristic of lapstrake (clinker) construction and no harm is done.